ESPN's senior boxing writer, Dan Rafael, reported that on the eve of signing the contract for boxing's biggest mega-fight in decades, Manny Pacquiao (not Floyd Mayweather) is balking at a provision for Olympic-style testing for performance enhancing drugs (PED's) and threatening to walk away.
The potential mega-mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao is seen by all in the boxing and the sports communities as having the ability to surpass all known monetary standards. This fight is expected to sell approximately 3 million pay-per-views (ppv's); with ppv's expected to sell for at least $50 each, you can easily begin to calculate the magnitude of money potentially generated by this sporting spectacle.
All of the usual sticking points have apparently been settled: fighters split of proceeds (purse), site (MGM Garden Arena...sorry Jerry Jones and Dallas Cowboy Stadium), the date (March 13th), weight limit and financial penalties for being over the weight limit. Therefore, it begs to question- Why would Manny Pacquiao hesitate and jeopardize the largest payday in modern boxing history?
Pacquiao apparently feels that the current Nevada State Athletic Commission's standards are adequate. He also states that he hates to have his blood drawn as required by Olympic-style testing, known as WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency or US Anti-Doping Agency) testing. Furthermore, he is superstitious and has never undergone this procedure before any of his other major fights.
A bit of information is in order to help better divine his possible true motivation.
I will not bore you with the minutia but the most glaring differences between Nevada's process and WADA's are: the samples being tested, the level of scrutiny and what substances can be easily detected in those samples. Simply put. Nevada tests urine and WADA tests blood for banned substances.
Testing urine can find an illegal drop in a bucket. Testing blood can find an illegal drop in an Olympic-size swimming pool. Possibly far more important, current urine testing does NOT test for Human Growth Hormone (Hgh) and blood testing does.
Athletes in general and fighters in specific are definitely superstitious and no one likes getting their blood drawn. But let's be honest. If this fight takes place, each fighter stand's to make around $50 million...win lose or draw.
And the last time that I checked there is a recession going on.